Saturday, September 26, 2009

Southside Draft COA Changes

With the draft Comprehensive Operations Analysis (COA) rolled out this week, a look at changes it proposes in South Hampton Roads. Being an expert neither on Peninsula geography nor it's bus routes, I'll let some Peninsula blogger cover them.

SUFFOLK

Routes 73 & 74 - in the long term, would reduce both to on demand services.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Route 25 - would reroute the portion between the PA Road/S. Plaza Trail/Providence Road intersection and PA Road/Witchduck Road/Kempsville Road intersection. The 25 would use Providence Road (east-west) and Kempsville Road (north-south) to serve the Fairfield area.

Me: this one comes down to a trade-off: are you willing to give up the Baxter Road/PA Road area to get Fairfield? I would, but a transit advocate I spoke to wouldn't.

Route 26 - redraws it as a Pembroke East to Lynnhaven Mall route, via Bow Creek, Rosemont Road, and Bonney Road.

Me: this one has been in the pipes since late Spring. The 26 is the least rode of VB's daily year-round routes.

Route 29 - would be split at Hilltop, with the Mill Dam Road deviation eliminated from the northern portion.

Me: splitting the 29 has appeared in a couple previous regional transit studies. When will it actually be done?

Route 36 - would take the Pembroke East - Amphib base section of Route 1 and add it to the 36.

Birdneck Circulator - a new service. It would go out 24th Street from the Resort Area, up Birdneck Road, west on Laskin, up Republic Road, south on First Colonial, east on I-264, then back up Birdneck and out 24th Street.

Me: the TPO's just-approved Non-Driver Report identifies pockets in this area lacking transit service, which the Circulator seeks to serve.

NORFOLK

Routes 9 & 18 - the NSU - Cedar Grove sections would be eliminated. The 18 would then become an every 40 minute service.

Route 4 - straightened somewhat, the portion south of Virginia Beach Boulevard eliminated (plenty of other service in that area), and it becomes a one-way loop.

Route 5 - in the south, it shoots down Tidewater Drive and Little Creek to Evelyn Butts instead of going to Wards Corner.

Route 23 - the segment along Wood Avenue and Front Street is eliminated. In addition, the portion south of Best Square is gone.

Route 15 - the monster of the COA, with the 15 being split. 15a runs Naval Station Norfolk to Amphib base (the 8 is chopped at Evelyn Butts), while 15b is Evelyn Butts to Greenbrier Mall.

PORTSMOUTH

Route 41 - extend service to Cavalier Business Park at peak hours.

Route 44 - eliminate the 44C, and extend the full route down Frederick Boulevard to Walmart.

Route 45 - move the outbound section of the 57 between Victory Crossing and Airline Boulevard to the 45.

Route 57 - in addition to the above, extend the route to Greenbrier Mall.

CHESAPEAKE

The major surgery was in transit-poor Chesapeake.

Greenbrier Mall - all 15s would go there, with the transfer center moved there from Robert Hall. Also, a Greenbrier Connector (circulator) bus would be introduced.

Routes 6 & 13 - their through buses from Cedar Grove to Robert Hall now operate on the same half hour. Stagger them, so most people have a bus (either the 6 or 13) in walking distance every 30 minutes. Also, eliminate 13 service south of Chesapeake General Hospital.

Route 58 - instead of fish hooking to Robert Hall, go down Dominion, Grassfield (including Walmart), then turn onto Cedar Road. Serve both TCC Chesapeake and the Chesapeake Municipal Center before ending at Chesapeake General Hospital.

Me: the idea with the 13 is to take it off the Great Bridge drawbridge, which regularly causes the 13 to miss the lineup at Robert Hall. However, I had a HRT Staffer point out to me that the changes mean taking the 58 across two drawbridges.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't know the 26 ran on Sundays

What exactly is the plan? Will I be loosing my Dahlia & Rosemont to TCC ride?

This WOULD affect my ability to attend TCC (I just started this semester) as I'm in a wheelchair and do not have any other means of getting around.

Anonymous said...

(same poster as before)

I have a lousy experience with Handi-Ride:
* It's $3 per ride compared to $0.75 per bus ride (I use the $35 30-Day card though, which is NOT VALID ON HANDI-RIDE)
* I have to call ahead, whereas my 26 comes when promised (late leaving TCC, yes I know it's coming from the 29 so I'm not surprised). This is a problem if I just want to go for a ride or something goes wrong with my schedule

Avenging Archangel said...

VB's outlying routes don't currently run on Sundays. However, that's a bridge we'll have to cross to qualify for Federal LRT funding.

Anonymous said...

It seems to me that for Va Beach to qualify for New Starts they are forced to amp up service until at least 10 and run on Sundays. Am I correct?

Avenging Archangel said...

The figure I was given by HRT in early 2008 was 20% overall. You can start some arguments over where to place those hours.

Personally, evening and Sunday service on the outlying routes should come first.

Michael Ragsdale said...

@Anon, asking about the 26:

Yes, the leg you travel to/from TCC will be eliminated. I don't agree with that change either
What time do you take your trips and how empty is the bus usually?

The 29 will still be running on Lynnhaven (yes I know that's a bit far to Lynnhaven & Rosemont)

As for when this will happen: I don't know

Anonymous said...

Did Norfolk have to boost service to qualify for NewStarts or were they alredy good?

Avenging Archangel said...

Norfolk already had very good bus service.

Anonymous said...

How is HRT planning on getting people from Cedar Grove to the LRT stations?

Avenging Archangel said...

The mid-term solution will be the Harbor Park multimodal station, which Norfolk is looking to build with stimulus money. That would be the new downtown bus transfer center, with LRT right there.

In the interim, all we've got is the friggin' 310 - Gold help us.

Anonymous said...

Well they need to hurry on up and build the Harbor Park transfer center, because Cedar Grove is so far from downtown and the 310 is ALWAYS jam packed, especialy during rush hour.

Do you plan on riding LRT in your daily commute? Just curious.I'll be riding every day.

Avenging Archangel said...

I don't go into downtown Norfolk daily, but will use LRT when I do.

Michael Ragsdale said...

When I'm back home (I'm currently in western Virginia for job training):

25 (God help me) --> TIDE

Maybe it'll be safer if I take 12 --> 15 --> TIDE, or
36 --> 20 --> TIDE

Anonymous said...

Transfers from bus to rail will be free right?

Michael Ragsdale said...

As far as I know: use your pass as always to transfer

Anonymous said...

Do you guys think the trains will be crowded (standing room only) at rush hour?

Avenging Archangel said...

Anon 4:09,

LRT is budgeted at bus fare, so there is no planned transfer cost issue.

Anon 6:33,

Given that I semiregularly leave Cedar Grove at rush hour for Virginia Beach, I can tell you first-hand that the Outbound 20s (the parallel bus route) are SRO at rush hour. Therefore, I expect the trains to be full.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I think the busses in general have been SRO lately.

You guys think we'll get 6,000-12,000 riders per day on the tide?

Avenging Archangel said...

Having seen the station-by-station breakdown of the numbers, and being familiar with the associated bus routes, I believe it can be done.